Detection of contact tip consumption with welding

ABSTRACT

An embodiment includes a welding system for performing an automatic GMAW welding process. The welding system provides a welding contact tip configured to be attached to a welding tool. The contact tip is configured to accept a consumable welding wire electrode that is fed there-through during the automatic GMAW welding process to form an arc between a tip of the consumable welding wire electrode and a work piece. A secondary material, being of a different material from that of the welding contact tip, is positioned at or near a distal end of the welding contact tip. During the automatic GMAW welding process, detection of a flaring event of the arc by the welding system is facilitated by the secondary material changing phase in response to the flaring event, resulting in changing at least one detectable characteristic of the arc.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This U.S. Patent Application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/316,042 filed on Mar. 3,2022, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Thedisclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,705,269 B2, issued on Apr. 27, 2010, isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The disclosure of U.S.Pat. No. 8,338,753 B2, issued on Dec. 25, 2012, is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to automatic gas metal arcwelding (GMAW). More specifically, embodiments of the present inventionrelate to improving detection of an arc flaring event due to aconsumable welding wire electrode burning back to the contact tip inautomatic gas metal arc welding (GMAW).

BACKGROUND

In GMAW welding (e.g., aluminum GMAW welding), if the feeding of thewire electrode is interrupted, the arc will burn back to the contact tipand welding will continue, until the weld is completed or manually shutoff. This results in missed welds or incomplete welds in automaticwelding operations as the machine does not recognize that the weldingconditions have changed. There is also a potential for bird nesting ofthe wire electrode, which could destroy the wire feeder.

SUMMARY

An embodiment includes an apparatus for supporting automatic weldingperformed by a welding system. A welding contact tip is configured to beattached to a welding tool and is configured to accept a consumablewelding wire that is fed there-through during an automatic GMAW weldingprocess to form an arc between a tip of the consumable welding wire anda work piece. A secondary material (e.g., a non-copper material) ispositioned near a distal end of the welding contact tip such that,during the automatic GMAW welding process, detection of a flaring eventof the arc by the welding system is facilitated by the secondarymaterial changing phase in response to the flaring event, resulting inchanging at least one detectable characteristic of the arc. In someembodiments, a secondary material is attached to the outside or theinside of the contact tip. When the welding arc flares back to thecontact tip, the secondary material melts and vaporizes and isintroduced into the arc, which changes a voltage characteristic and/oran impedance characteristic of the arc to improve the signal to detectthe flaring event.

In one embodiment, a welding system for performing an automatic GMAWwelding process is provided. The system includes a welding toolconfigured to support arc welding using a consumable welding wireelectrode fed there-through, and a welding power source operativelyconnected to the welding tool to supply an electrical welding output tothe welding tool and a work piece. The system also includes at least oneof a current sensor of the welding power source configured to sense anarc current of an arc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process,and a voltage sensor of the welding power source configured to sense anarc voltage of the arc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process.The system further includes a welding contact tip configured to beattached to the welding tool and configured to accept the consumablewelding wire electrode there-through as fed through the welding toolduring the automatic GMAW welding process to form the arc between a tipof the consumable welding wire electrode and the work piece. The systemincludes a secondary material, being of a different material from thatof the welding contact tip, positioned at or near a distal end of thewelding contact tip. The system also includes a controller operativelyconnected to the welding power source. The controller is configured suchthat, during the automatic GMAW welding process, detection of a flaringevent of the arc by the controller is facilitated by the secondarymaterial changing phase in response to the flaring event and thuschanging at least one of the arc voltage or the arc current as sensed.In one embodiment, the controller is configured to shut down the weldingpower source upon detection of the flaring event. In one embodiment, thesecondary material is a non-copper material such as, for example, asilicon material. In one embodiment, the welding contact tip includes acopper material. In one embodiment, the system includes a wire feederconfigured to feed the consumable welding wire electrode to the weldingtool. In one embodiment, the secondary material is in the form of a wireand is attached to at least one of an outside or an inside of thewelding contact tip. In one embodiment, the secondary material is in theform of a disk or a ring. In one embodiment, the secondary material isin the form of a ground or granular material. In one embodiment, thesecondary material is configured as a fuse that changes phase inresponse to the flaring event at least by transitioning from a shortedclosed state to an un-shorted open state. In one embodiment, thesecondary material is attached to the welding contact tip via at leastone of an adhesive or a welded bond. In one embodiment, the secondarymaterial changes phase by at least one of vaporizing or ionizing into aplasma of the arc in response to the flaring event of the arc. In oneembodiment, the secondary material changes phase at least by meltinginto a weld puddle on the work piece in response to the flaring event ofthe arc to form a removable slag. In one embodiment, the secondarymaterial changes phase at least by melting into a weld puddle on thework piece in response to the flaring event of the arc and becoming aninconsequential part of a deposit on the work piece.

In one embodiment, a welding system for performing an automatic GMAWwelding process is provided. The system includes a welding toolconfigured to support arc welding using a consumable welding wireelectrode fed there-through, and a welding power source operativelyconnected to the welding tool to supply an electrical welding output tothe welding tool and a work piece. The system also includes at least oneof a current sensor of the welding power source configured to sense anarc current of an arc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process,and a voltage sensor of the welding power source configured to sense anarc voltage of the arc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process.The system further includes a welding contact tip including a proximalportion configured to be attached to the welding tool, and a distalportion, being of a different material than the proximal portion. Theproximal portion and the distal portion are configured to accept theconsumable welding wire electrode that is fed there-through during theautomatic GMAW welding process to form the arc between a tip of theconsumable welding wire electrode and the work piece. The system alsoincludes a controller operatively connected to the welding power source,wherein the controller is configured such that, during the automaticGMAW welding process, detection of a flaring event of the arc by thecontroller is facilitated by the different material of the distalportion causing a change in at least one of the arc voltage or the arccurrent, as sensed, in response to the flaring event. In one embodiment,the controller is configured to shut down the welding power source upondetection of the flaring event. In one embodiment, the distal portionincludes a non-consumable carbon-based ceramic material. In oneembodiment, the proximal portion includes copper and the distal portionincludes graphite. In one embodiment, the distal portion includes aconsumable non-copper material.

In one embodiment, a welding system for performing an automatic GMAWwelding process is provided. The system includes a welding toolconfigured to support arc welding using a consumable welding wireelectrode fed there-through, and a welding power source operativelyconnected to the welding tool to supply an electrical welding output tothe welding tool and a work piece. The system also includes at least oneof a current sensor of the welding power source configured to sense anarc current of an arc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process,and a voltage sensor of the welding power source configured to sense anarc voltage of the arc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process.The system further includes a welding contact tip including a proximalportion made of a first material and configured to be attached to thewelding tool, and a distal portion made of the first material and havinga coating material on at least an outer surface of the distal portionwhich is different from that of the first material. The proximal portionand the distal portion are configured to accept the consumable weldingwire electrode that is fed there-through during the automatic GMAWwelding process to form the arc between a tip of the consumable weldingwire electrode and the work piece. The system also includes a controlleroperatively connected to the welding power source. The controller isconfigured such that, during the automatic GMAW welding process,detection of a flaring event of the arc by the controller is facilitatedby the coating material on the distal portion causing a change in atleast one of the arc voltage or the arc current, as sensed, in responseto the flaring event. In one embodiment, the controller is configured toshut down the welding power source upon detection of the flaring event.In one embodiment, the coating material includes a non-consumablecarbon-based ceramic material. In one embodiment, the coating materialincludes a consumable non-copper material.

Numerous aspects of the general inventive concepts will become readilyapparent from the following detailed description of exemplaryembodiments, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be appreciated that the illustrated elementboundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in thefigures represent one embodiment of boundaries. In some embodiments, oneelement may be designed as multiple elements or multiple elements may bedesigned as one element. In some embodiments, an element shown as aninternal component of another element may be implemented as an externalcomponent and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn toscale.

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram illustrating one embodiment of awelding system;

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a modified contact tip connected toa welding tool, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates graphs of how arc characteristics change to improvedetection of an arc flaring event when using a modified contact tip, inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a modified contact tip having adisk-shaped secondary material attached thereto at a distal end, andhaving a central passage for a wire electrode to pass;

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a modified contact tip having aground granular secondary material attached thereto at a distal end;

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another embodiment of a modified contact tiphaving a side secondary material attached thereto near a distal end;

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a contact tip having a proximalportion and a distal portion;

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a contact tip having a secondarymaterial screwed into or pressed-fitted into a distal end of the contacttip; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment of acontroller that can be used, for example, in the welding system of FIG.1 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention may include a modified contact tipfor use in automatic welding of metal materials. Embodiments of thepresent invention may include a welding system, having a modifiedcontact tip, configured to detect arc flaring events.

The examples and figures herein are illustrative only and are not meantto limit the subject invention, which is measured by the scope andspirit of the claims. Referring now to the drawings, wherein theshowings are for the purpose of illustrating exemplary embodiments ofthe subject invention only and not for the purpose of limiting same,FIG. 1 is a system block diagram illustrating one embodiment of awelding system 100. The system 100 includes a welding power source 110,a controller 120, a wire feeder 130, and a welding tool 140. The weldingtool 140 includes a modified contact tip 142, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

The wire feeder 130 is configured to feed a consumable welding wireelectrode 144 (e.g., made of aluminum) to the welding tool 140 andthrough the modified contact tip 142. The welding power source 110provides the welding power (electrical welding output) to generate awelding arc 146 between a tip of the consumable welding wire electrode144 and a work piece W. The wire feeder 130 is supplied with theconsumable welding wire electrode 144 from a spool 135. In theembodiment of FIG. 1 , the welding tool 140 (e.g., a welding torch orgun) is moved along a track 152 in a travel direction 160 by a drivingmechanism 150 (e.g., to weld a seam or a joint along the work piece W)during an automatic gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. The drivingmechanism 150 may include an electric motor, in accordance with oneembodiment. In accordance with other embodiments, the welding tool 140may be moved along a seam or a joint via other means such as, forexample, a welding robot having an arm that provides multiple degrees offreedom of movement of the welding tool 140.

The welding power source 110 includes a current sensor 112 and a voltagesensor 114 to respectively sense the current and the voltage of the arcformed between the tip of the electrode 144 and the work piece W. Duringwelding, when the arc 146 is formed, the sensed current isrepresentative of the arc current and the sensed voltage isrepresentative of the arc voltage. In accordance with one embodiment,the current sensor 112 and/or the voltage sensor 114 are not a part ofthe welding power source 110 but are operatively connected thereto. Thecontroller 120 includes a memory 122 and a processor 124 (e.g., acentral processing unit or CPU) and is configured to control at leastthe welding power source 110 and the wire feeder 130. The controller 120may also control the driving mechanism 150, or another controller (notshown) may control the driving mechanism 150, in accordance with variousembodiments. The controller 120 may take the form of the controller 700of FIG. 7 , which is discussed later herein, in accordance with oneembodiment.

As discussed subsequently herein, the controller 120, the current sensor112, and the voltage sensor 114 are configured to operate in conjunctionwith the modified contact tip 142 to determine when the electrode 144has burned back to the distal end of the modified contact tip 142resulting in an arc flaring event. An arc flaring event occurs when theelectrode 144 stops feeding toward the work piece W (e.g., due to somesystem failure). The electrode 144 burns back to the modified contacttip 142 and the arc 146 can begin to consume the modified contact tip142 if the system 100 is not shut down. The sensed arc voltage and/orarc current are sent to the controller 120 (e.g., via the power source110) and the controller determines if an arc flaring event has occurredbased on the voltage and/or current.

For example, in conventional GMAW welding (e.g., aluminum GMAW welding),if the feeding of the wire electrode is interrupted, the arc can burnback to the contact tip and welding can attempt to continue, untiltraversal of the weld joint is completed or until the welding machine ismanually shut off. This results in missed welds or incomplete welds inautomatic welding operations as the welding machine does not recognizethat the welding conditions have changed. There is also a potential forbird nesting of the wire electrode, which could destroy the wire feeder.However, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, thecontact tip is a modified contact tip 142 which allows for reliabledetection of an arc flaring event by the controller 120 via the currentsensor 112 and/or the voltage sensor 114. This allows the controller 120to shut down the power source 110 (and, for example, the wire feeder130) quickly enough to avoid damage to the rest of the system 100 (e.g.,the welding tool 140, etc.) and prevent a continuous attempt at weldingeven though there is no wire coming out of the modified contact tip 142.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a modified contact tip 142connected to a welding tool 140 (e.g., a welding torch), in accordancewith one embodiment. The contact tip is a modified contact tip 142 inthat it has a secondary material 210 (e.g., a non-copper material in theform of a wire) attached thereto. The term “secondary material” refersto a material (e.g., silicon) that is different from the material of thecontact tip 142 (e.g., copper). The left portion of FIG. 2 shows themodified contact tip 142 with the secondary material 210 before welding.The right portion of FIG. 2 shows the modified contact tip 142 with thesecondary material (designated as 210′ in FIG. 2 ) after an arc flaringevent during welding. During the arc flaring event, at least a portionof the secondary material 210 changes phase (e.g., melts and vaporizes),resulting in changing at least one detectable characteristic of the arc(e.g., voltage, current, impedance; impedance is determined from thesensed voltage and current). For example, the vaporized secondarymaterial is introduced into the plasma of the arc, in accordance withone embodiment, during the arc flaring event.

In one embodiment, the secondary material changes phase by at least oneof vaporizing or ionizing into a plasma of the arc in response to theflaring event of the arc. In one embodiment, the secondary materialchanges phase by melting into a weld puddle on the work piece inresponse to the flaring event of the arc to form a removable slag. Inone embodiment, the secondary material changes phase by melting into aweld puddle on the work piece in response to the flaring event of thearc and becoming an inconsequential part of a deposit on the work piece.In one embodiment, the secondary material is configured as a fuse thatchanges phase (e.g., by melting) in response to the flaring event atleast by transitioning from an electrically shorted closed state to anelectrically un-shorted open state.

In one embodiment, the main body of the modified contact tip 142 is madeof copper and has the secondary material 210 attached thereto. The wireelectrode 144 is made of an aluminum material. When an arc flaring eventoccurs (e.g., due to the wire electrode 144 burning back to the distalend of the copper contact tip 142), the phase change of the secondarymaterial 210 changes the arc voltage and/or the arc current which aredetected by the controller 120 via the voltage sensor 114 and/or thecurrent sensor 112. The change in the arc voltage and/or the arc currentindicates the occurrence of the flaring event to the controller 120, andthe controller 120 is programmed to shut down at least the welding powersource 110 as a result, in accordance with one embodiment. Thedifference in conductivity between copper/aluminum and the secondarymaterial amplifies the change in the arc voltage and/or the arc currentduring the arc flaring event.

FIG. 3 illustrates graphs of how arc characteristics change to improvedetection of an arc flaring event when using a modified contact tip, inaccordance with one embodiment. The graphs of voltage and impedance inthe top portion of FIG. 3 show how detected voltage and impedance changewith a conventional copper contact tip (with no non-copper secondarymaterial attached) when an arc flaring event occurs. The graphs ofvoltage and impedance in the bottom portion of FIG. 3 show how detectedvoltage and impedance change with the modified contact tip of FIG. 2when an arc flaring event occurs. The change in voltage and impedance ismuch more pronounced (and, therefore, more reliably detectable) in thebottom portion of FIG. 3 . Therefore, the welding power supply 110 willbe more reliably shut down by the controller 120 when an arc flaringevent occurs using the modified contact tip 142 of FIG. 2 during anautomatic GMAW welding process.

In accordance with various embodiments, the modified contact tip 142 maytake different forms. The wire form of the secondary material 210attached to the outside of the contact tip 142 has already beendiscussed with respect to FIG. 2 . In an alternative embodiment, thewire form of the secondary material may be attached inside the contacttip 142. In yet another embodiment, the secondary material can beconfigured as a fuse that “opens” and changes the detectablecharacteristic when the arc flaring event occurs. Other embodiments of amodified contact tip are possible as well.

For example, FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a modified contact tip142 having a disk (or ring) secondary material 410 attached thereto at adistal end, and having a central passage 420 for the wire electrode 144to pass. The disk secondary material 410 may be, for example, made of asilicon material or some other non-copper material. FIG. 5 illustratesanother embodiment of a modified contact tip 142 having a ground(particulate or granular) secondary material 510 attached thereto at adistal end. The ground secondary material 510 may be, for example, madeof a ground silicon material or some other ground non-copper material.FIG. 6 illustrates yet another embodiment of a modified contact tip 142having a side-mounted secondary material 610 attached thereto near adistal end. The side-mounted secondary material 610 may be, for example,made of a silicon material or some other non-copper material. Thesecondary materials 410, 510, and 610 may be attached at or near thedistal end of the contact tip 142 via an adhesive, for example, or viasome other form of bonding such as, for example, welding. Other methodsof attaching the secondary material may be possible as well, inaccordance with other embodiments (e.g., press-fitting).

Again, a detectable characteristic of the arc can be changed by changingthe plasma of the arc. For example, in some embodiments, the secondarymaterial can vaporize or ionize into the plasma of the arc, but not meltinto the weld puddle. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the secondarymaterial melts into the weld puddle, forming some kind of a slag on thework piece that can be readily removed. As a further alternative, in yetother embodiments, the secondary material melts into the weld puddle andbecomes a permanent part of the work piece, but is inconsequential tothe resultant deposit on the work piece. As used herein, the term“inconsequential” refers to the secondary material not affecting theresultant deposit in any practical negative manner with respect to thepurpose of the weld.

In other embodiments, the disk secondary material 410, the groundsecondary material 510, or the side-mounted secondary material 610 (orthe distal end of the contact tip 142 itself) can be made out of acarbon-based ceramic material (maybe graphite), or something similar,that does not get consumed but still changes a detectable characteristicof the arc to provide a good signal for detection of an arc flaringevent. In yet another embodiment, the secondary material can be acoating material on the distal end of the contact tip 142. In oneembodiment, the coating material includes a non-consumable carbon-basedceramic material. In one embodiment, the first material includes copperand the coating material includes graphite. In one embodiment, thecoating material includes a consumable non-copper material.

For example, FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a contact tip 700having a proximal portion 710 and a distal portion 720. The proximalportion 710 includes a threaded portion 715 that allows the contact tip700 to be attached to (e.g., screwed into) a welding tool (e.g., thewelding tool 140 of FIG. 1 ). In one embodiment, the proximal portion710 is made of copper and the distal portion 720 is made of a secondarynon-copper material such as, for example, silicon or a carbon-basedceramic material (e.g., graphite). In another embodiment, the proximalportion 710 and the distal portion 720 are made of copper. However, anouter surface of the distal portion 720 is coated (e.g., via physicalvapor deposition) with a secondary material that is not copper.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a contact tip 800 having asecondary material element 810 screwed into or press-fitted into adistal end hole of the contact tip 800. In one embodiment, all but thesecondary material element 810 of the contact tip is made of copper (thesecondary material element 810 is made of a non-copper material). Thesecondary material element 810 allows a fed consumable welding wireelectrode to pass there-through (e.g., the secondary material element810 is in the form of a small threaded tube). The secondary materialelement 810 gets consumed during an arc flaring event, changing adetectable characteristic of the arc as discussed previously herein, inaccordance with one embodiment. In another embodiment, the secondarymaterial element 810 may be made of a material that does not getconsumed (e.g., the secondary material element is a carbon-based ceramicmaterial) but, nonetheless, results in a change of a detectablecharacteristic of the arc during an arc flaring event. In yet anotherembodiment, instead of being screwed or press-fitted, the secondarymaterial is impregnated into the copper of the contact tip at the distalend and is released upon melting during an arc flaring event.

In one embodiment, the contact tip itself could be made out of somethingother than copper, not needing an attachable secondary material. Theionization potential of copper and aluminum are very similar. With anon-copper contact tip (e.g., tungsten, steel, stainless steel, etc.)and an aluminum wire electrode, the arc characteristic would change oncethe arc flared back to the distal end of the contact tip, allowing forreliable detection of the arc flaring event. Furthermore, a non-coppercontact tip may provide other unexpected benefits (e.g., pre-heating ofaluminum wire, better control of hydrogen).

In some embodiments, a secondary material (element) at the distal end ofthe contact tip acts as a higher resistive material that provides a pathfor current to flow once a lower resistive copper contact path (fuse) ismelted. The secondary material effectively provides a parallel path forthe current to flow, but only becomes activated when the lesserresistant path is no longer available. The extreme condition is for thesecondary material to be an electrical insulator, preventing a circuitto be completed and causing a signal large enough to be detected suchthat welding can be stopped.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment of acontroller 900 that can be used, for example, in the welding system 100of FIG. 1 . For example, the controller 900 is located within thewelding system 100 (e.g., as the controller 120), in accordance with oneembodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 . Referring to FIG. 9 , the controller900 includes at least one processor 914 (e.g., a microprocessor, acentral processing unit, a graphics processing unit) which communicateswith a number of peripheral devices via bus subsystem 912. Theseperipheral devices may include a storage subsystem 924, including, forexample, a memory subsystem 928 and a file storage subsystem 926, userinterface input devices 922, user interface output devices 920, and anetwork interface subsystem 916. The input and output devices allow userinteraction with the controller 900. Network interface subsystem 916provides an interface to outside networks and is coupled tocorresponding interface devices in other devices.

User interface input devices 922 may include a keyboard, pointingdevices such as a mouse, trackball, touchpad, or graphics tablet, ascanner, a touchscreen incorporated into the display, audio inputdevices such as voice recognition systems, microphones, and/or othertypes of input devices. In general, use of the term “input device” isintended to include all possible types of devices and ways to inputinformation into the controller 900 or onto a communication network.

User interface output devices 920 may include a display subsystem, aprinter, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices. Thedisplay subsystem may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-paneldevice such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projection device, orsome other mechanism for creating a visible image. The display subsystemmay also provide non-visual display such as via audio output devices. Ingeneral, use of the term “output device” is intended to include allpossible types of devices and ways to output information from thecontroller 900 to the user or to another machine or computer system.

Storage subsystem 924 stores programming and data constructs thatprovide some or all of the functionality described herein. For example,computer-executable instructions and data are generally executed byprocessor 914 alone or in combination with other processors. Memory 928used in the storage subsystem 924 can include a number of memoriesincluding a main random access memory (RAM) 930 for storage ofinstructions and data during program execution and a read only memory(ROM) 932 in which fixed instructions are stored. A file storagesubsystem 926 can provide persistent storage for program and data files,and may include a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, a floppy diskdrive along with associated removable media, a CD-ROM drive, an opticaldrive, or removable media cartridges. The computer-executableinstructions and data implementing the functionality of certainembodiments may be stored by file storage subsystem 926 in the storagesubsystem 924, or in other machines accessible by the processor(s) 914.

Bus subsystem 912 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of the controller 900 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 912 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may usemultiple buses.

The controller 900 can be of varying types. Due to the ever-changingnature of computing devices and networks, the description of thecontroller 900 depicted in FIG. 9 is intended only as a specific examplefor purposes of illustrating some embodiments. Many other configurationsof a controller are possible, having more or fewer components than thecontroller 900 depicted in FIG. 9 .

While the disclosed embodiments have been illustrated and described inconsiderable detail, it is not the intention to restrict or in any waylimit the scope of any subsequent appended claims to such detail. It is,of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination ofcomponents or methodologies for purposes of describing the variousaspects of the subject matter. Therefore, the disclosure is not limitedto the specific details or illustrative examples shown and described.Thus, this disclosure is intended to embrace alterations, modifications,and variations that fall within the scope of subsequent appended claims,which satisfy the statutory subject matter requirements of 35 U.S.C. §101. The above description of specific embodiments has been given by wayof example. From the disclosure given, those skilled in the art will notonly understand the general inventive concepts and attendant advantages,but will also find apparent various changes and modifications to thestructures and methods disclosed. It is sought, therefore, to cover allsuch changes and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope ofthe general inventive concepts, as defined by subsequent appendedclaims, and equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A welding system for performing an automatic GMAWwelding process, the welding system comprising: a welding toolconfigured to support arc welding using a consumable welding wireelectrode fed there-through; a welding power source operativelyconnected to the welding tool to supply an electrical welding output tothe welding tool and a work piece; at least one of a current sensor ofthe welding power source configured to sense an arc current of an arcformed during the automatic GMAW welding process, and a voltage sensorof the welding power source configured to sense an arc voltage of thearc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process; a welding contacttip configured to be attached to the welding tool and configured toaccept the consumable welding wire electrode there-through as fedthrough the welding tool during the automatic GMAW welding process toform the arc between a tip of the consumable welding wire electrode andthe work piece; a secondary material, being of a different material fromthat of the welding contact tip, positioned at or near a distal end ofthe welding contact tip; and a controller operatively connected to thewelding power source, wherein the controller is configured such that,during the automatic GMAW welding process, detection of a flaring eventof the arc by the controller is facilitated by the secondary materialchanging phase in response to the flaring event and thus changing atleast one of the arc voltage or the arc current as sensed.
 2. Thewelding system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to shutdown the welding power source upon detection of the flaring event. 3.The welding system of claim 1, wherein the secondary material is anon-copper material.
 4. The welding system of claim 1, wherein thewelding contact tip includes a copper material.
 5. The welding system ofclaim 1, wherein the secondary material includes a silicon material. 6.The welding system of claim 1, further comprising a wire feederconfigured to feed the consumable welding wire electrode to the weldingtool.
 7. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the secondary materialis in the form of a wire and is attached to at least one of an outsideor an inside of the welding contact tip.
 8. The welding system of claim1, wherein the secondary material is in the form of a disk.
 9. Thewelding system of claim 1, wherein the secondary material is in the formof a ground material.
 10. The welding system of claim 1, wherein thesecondary material is configured as a fuse that changes phase inresponse to the flaring event at least by transitioning from a shortedclosed state to an un-shorted open state.
 11. The welding system ofclaim 1, wherein the secondary material is attached to the weldingcontact tip via at least one of an adhesive or a welded bond.
 12. Thewelding system of claim 1, wherein the secondary material changes phaseby at least one of vaporizing or ionizing into a plasma of the arc inresponse to the flaring event of the arc.
 13. The welding system ofclaim 1, wherein the secondary material changes phase at least bymelting into a weld puddle on the work piece in response to the flaringevent of the arc to form a removable slag.
 14. The welding system ofclaim 1, wherein the secondary material changes phase at least bymelting into a weld puddle on the work piece in response to the flaringevent of the arc and becoming an inconsequential part of a deposit onthe work piece.
 15. A welding system for performing an automatic GMAWwelding process, the welding system comprising: a welding toolconfigured to support arc welding using a consumable welding wireelectrode fed there-through; a welding power source operativelyconnected to the welding tool to supply an electrical welding output tothe welding tool and a work piece; at least one of a current sensor ofthe welding power source configured to sense an arc current of an arcformed during the automatic GMAW welding process, and a voltage sensorof the welding power source configured to sense an arc voltage of thearc formed during the automatic GMAW welding process; a welding contacttip including a proximal portion configured to be attached to thewelding tool, and a distal portion, being of a different material thanthe proximal portion, wherein the proximal portion and the distalportion are configured to accept the consumable welding wire electrodethat is fed there-through during the automatic GMAW welding process toform the arc between a tip of the consumable welding wire electrode andthe work piece; and a controller operatively connected to the weldingpower source, wherein the controller is configured such that, during theautomatic GMAW welding process, detection of a flaring event of the arcby the controller is facilitated by the different material of the distalportion causing a change in at least one of the arc voltage or the arccurrent, as sensed, in response to the flaring event.
 16. The weldingsystem of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to shut downthe welding power source upon detection of the flaring event.
 17. Thewelding system of claim 15, wherein the distal portion includes anon-consumable carbon-based ceramic material.
 18. The welding system ofclaim 15, wherein the proximal portion includes copper and the distalportion includes graphite.
 19. The welding system of claim 15, whereinthe distal portion includes a consumable non-copper material.
 20. Awelding system for performing an automatic GMAW welding process, thewelding system comprising: a welding tool configured to support arcwelding using a consumable welding wire electrode fed there-through; awelding power source operatively connected to the welding tool to supplyan electrical welding output to the welding tool and a work piece; atleast one of a current sensor of the welding power source configured tosense an arc current of an arc formed during the automatic GMAW weldingprocess, and a voltage sensor of the welding power source configured tosense an arc voltage of the arc formed during the automatic GMAW weldingprocess; a welding contact tip including a proximal portion made of afirst material and configured to be attached to the welding tool, and adistal portion made of the first material and having a coating materialon at least an outer surface of the distal portion which is differentfrom that of the first material, wherein the proximal portion and thedistal portion are configured to accept the consumable welding wireelectrode that is fed there-through during the automatic GMAW weldingprocess to form the arc between a tip of the consumable welding wireelectrode and the work piece; and a controller operatively connected tothe welding power source, wherein the controller is configured suchthat, during the automatic GMAW welding process, detection of a flaringevent of the arc by the controller is facilitated by the coatingmaterial on the distal portion causing a change in at least one of thearc voltage or the arc current, as sensed, in response to the flaringevent.
 21. The welding system of claim 20, wherein the controller isconfigured to shut down the welding power source upon detection of theflaring event.
 22. The welding system of claim 20, wherein the coatingmaterial includes a non-consumable carbon-based ceramic material. 23.The welding system of claim 20, wherein the coating material includes aconsumable non-copper material.